Annual Report 2011 - 2012

Annual Report 2011 - 2012
Afghanistan and Pakistan. They also discussed their shared
interest in peaceful and stable Asia Pacific and the Indian
Ocean region and the evolution of an open, balanced and
inclusive architecture in the region.
Political and Strategic Consultations: The year witnessed
further expansion of strategic consultations with launching
of a Central Asia Dialogue in June in New Delhi and a West
Asia Dialogue in July in Washington DC. The fourth round
of the East Asia Dialogue was held in September. A trilateral
dialogue with Japan at senior officials' level was held on 19
December. The bilateral dialogue on United Nations matters
was launched in New Delhi in March. The Joint Working
Group (JWG) on UN Peacekeeping Operations also met in
March in New Delhi.
India and the United States reaffirmed their commitment
for consultation, coordination, and cooperation on
Afghanistan, and to work jointly in Afghanistan in the areas
of reconstruction, development, capacity building,
agriculture, and women's empowerment, expanding on work
already underway. Acknowledging that regional trade, transit
and commercial activities in South and Central Asia would
benefit Afghanistan, India has offered its growing markets
to Afghanistan's products and announced, in early
November, the virtual elimination of sensitive lists affecting
exports of all least developed SAARC countries to India.
Similar viewpoint is echoed by the New Silk Road Initiative
announced by the US Government-
The two countries continued to work together, and with
other countries, towards the shared goal of stable and
peaceful Asia through various mechanisms of bilateral
dialogue, the regional forums, including the East Asia
Summit, and trilateral dialogue with Japan. The two
countries explored ways to work together to ensure the safety
of and access to the global commons - air, sea, space and
cyber domains - which is vital for international commerce
and global energy security.
India and the United States explored ways to promote food
security in Africa through a triangular cooperation
programme with Liberia, Malawi, and Kenya. The proposed
cooperation envisaged participation of African students and
professionals at Indian universities and research and
technical institutes in mutually agreed capacity building
programmes.
Counter-terrorism: The two governments continued to
strengthen their ongoing cooperation in the area of counterterrorism
through a regular dialogue, capacity-building, and
exchange of best practices. The 9th Meeting of the Joint
Working Group on Counter-Terrorism was held in New
Delhi in March 2011.
90
The Home Minister, Mr P Chidambaram, and US
Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Ms Janet
Napolitano, launched the India-U.S. Homeland Security
Dialogue in New Delhi in May 2011. The Dialogue had been
announced by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh,
and US President, Mr Barack Obama, in November 2010.
The two sides agreed on a programme of cooperation in
global supply chain management, megacity policing,
combating counterfeit currency and illicit financing, cyber
security, critical infrastructure protection, and capacity
building and technology upgrading. They reiterated their
commitment to further strengthen counter-terrorism
cooperation, including through intelligence sharing,
information exchange, operational cooperation, and access
to advanced counter-terrorism technology and equipment.
In September, the US designated the Indian Mujahideen as
a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and a Specially
Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224.
Cyber security: India and the United States signed on July 19,
a Memorandum of Understanding between respective
Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT-IN and US-
CERT) to exchange information on cyber attacks and mutual
response to cyber security incidents, to cooperate on cyber security
technology, and to exchange information on cyber security
policy, best practices, capacity building and exchange of experts.
Defence: The year witnessed steady progress in bilateral
defence cooperation with a robust slate of dialogues, military
exercises, defence trade, personnel exchanges, training
cooperation, capacity building, information sharing,
including in the areas of counter narcotics, counter-piracy,
and maritime safety.
The 11th meeting of the India-US Defence Policy Group
(DPG) led by the Defence Secretary and the US Under
Secretary of Defence for Policy was held in Washington, DC
in March 2011. The meeting prioritised maritime security,
humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, and counterterrorism
cooperation. The two countries agreed to continue
consultations on maritime security cooperation in the Indian
Ocean Region in existing forums such as Defence Policy
Group and its appropriate sub-groups.
The 9th and 10th meetings of the Defence Procurement and
Production Group (DPPG) were held in March and
November 2011, respectively, and the meeting of Joint
Working Group on Defence was held in New Delhi in
November 2011. The 13th meeting of the Joint Technical
Group was held in the US on 25 March, 2011.
Joint Exercises between the three services have increased in
scale and complexity since the signing of the New Framework